Al Duomo

I went to Brighton recently and made the mistake of eating at Al Duomos. The waiters were miserable and the food was terrible and at £30 per head from a set menu paying the bill was upsetting! Calamari was like rubber bands and the cannalloni I ordered was obviously frozen, shoved in a microwave and came dried out and burnt!! My partner had an aubergine starter with a peeling of aubergine in it and her pizza was a tough base with half a pound of salt on it!! Wouldn't go back!!
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Ok, this was never the best restaurant in the city, but whatever happened to the cosy, traditional, friendly little restaurant I used to know?!

Went for the first time in years and was served by an army of brisk, indifferent Eastern Europeans - whom I have nothing against - but it would have been nice to see a few Italians working there!

Fairly high prices for our distinctly mediocre food, without much flavour and a majority of the tables seem a little too close for comfort in the new modern setting.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

It was a pleasure to dine at Al Duomo. The staff were friendly and welcoming, the food was excellent and there was a really good atmosphere. I will definately go back and would recommend this restaurant to everyone.
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Scott
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, September 05, 2010

We recently held a belated New Year Dinner at Al Duomo's and found Alberto and his staff to be very accommodating and helpful. There were 45 in our group and we were given a broad, varied selection of dishes to choose from. Everything was served speedily and efficiently and they were also able to provide the special dietary requirements requested.

Thanks Alberto & Al Duomo
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 22, 2010

This is a great restaurant for large groups, I went with a group of 26 on a hen night and we were given our own room with friendly waiter, the food was tasty and good value for money and we were not rushed in any way. I would recommend it for large groups.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I have dined at many restaurants and Al Duomo is easily the WORST restaurant I have ever been to. The bad experience started as soon as we entered the restaurant. We were told to follow the waiter and were seated at the very back of the restaurant. This area was not shown in the gallery on their website and I can only describe it as being a small extra room that’s needed when the restaurant gets busy. It was not decorated like the rest of the restaurant and there was damp on the walls. My view consisted of my partner and the white wall behind her. Her view consisted of me and the diners behind us who were unfortunate enough to also be seated in this ‘walk in wardrobe’. There was no feeling of togetherness with the rest of the diners.

The evening grew worse when we were ordering our food. The menu at Al Duomo is very large and since it was our first meal there we needed time to read everything. The waiters and waitresses made us feel very rushed, asking if we had decided what we wanted to eat every 2 minutes. Instead of waiting for us to close our menus proving that we had decided. I remember one waitress asked us if we were ready and I politely said no and yet she gave me a rather rude hand wave as if to say we were wasting her time!

Once the food and drinks were ordered I thought the evening would improve and was hoping that the courses would remedy the bad seating arrangement and bad service, however they didn’t. The cocktail we ordered came in a small glass, considering the price, and also was served with straws. Having drunk it before, I know when it’s made well and at Al Duomo is was horrible.

They delivered my starter, however made a mistake with my partner’s so we sent it back. The waitress then came back with the same dish and again we said it was wrong so we sent it back. By this point my starter, which I did not want to begin eating until my partner received hers, had gone cold, since they did not take it back and serve our starters together. I ordered the garlic bread with cheese. The bread was burnt and the cheese had a very rubbery texture. For our main courses I chose tagliatelle imperiale, which had king prawns, cherry tomato, garlic and chilli. When I had this dish before the king prawns were already taken out of their shells so I could eat them off the fork however here the king prawns were intact and I had to use my hands to get to the meat. I let this go because I have had to do this before also but the dish was still ruined because all I could taste was the overpowering chilli!

My partner chose the Pollo Milanese, and in the menu it was described as Chicken breast bread crumbed sauté in olive oil served with lemon wedge and Spaghetti Napoletana. What she was actually served was chicken escalope and Spaghetti with reheated tomato sauce. There was no chicken breast on her plate and the ‘chicken escalope’ wasn’t cooked properly. It was very hard to bite into. Neither of us finished our main meals.

I finally asked for the bill, and there were two errors. They charged us for a drink we hadn’t ordered and also charged us for their tip. I queried this with the manager and he apologised for the error with the drink but when I asked him to remove the service charge, his friendly manner stopped and he quickly snapped back talking of a contract that my partner and I had entered into meaning that as soon as we walked into the restaurant we had to pay for the service charge...This was absolutely ridiculous. (On the bottom right hand corner of the menu its states that an optional service charge may be added to your bill). Since we had received the worst service and worst food, I believed that I was well within my right to refuse them a service charge. When he went to rectify the bill, I asked him to give me a menu again (so I could show him the bottom right hand corner) to prove to him that the service charge was optional. Upon returning he said that I didn’t have to pay for the service charge (I assume he read his own menu!). When I looked at the bill for the second time, there was a further error on it. Rather than getting rid of the service charge he had multiplied it by 10. The service charge now cost more than the meal itself! Once this final problem was overcome we left unimpressed and still very hungry.

I know this seems to be a very harsh review however; I have never received such appalling service or food like this before. I honestly believe calling what we were served as food is too kind. If you are thinking of dining at this restaurant I implore you not to. There are many other restaurants within 5 minutes walk of Al Duomo and I would strongly recommend you dine at one of them instead.
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Chris
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Nicest italian restaurant ever!!!! very very good :D
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Bob Carr
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, January 28, 2010

Have been going to Al Duomo for several years and to me it just seems to get better and better. Recently we had the risotto marinara and it was exceptional, it would be fair to say like any restaurant that at quieter times even more care is taken in the preparation and presentation of your food. Regularly travel 11 miles to Brighton to eat at Al Duomo. Staff are very friendly and always enjoy having a banter with them. Highly recommended.
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David and Christine Olliver
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, September 12, 2009

In my opinion, readers should be wary of the excellent impression given by the sizeable wedding party (see below), as they obviously had a good time on a particularly happy day and no-one wants to take that away from them, however, I'm Italian and I was appaled by the low quality of the food, lackluster service and cheesy pseudo-med atmosphere.

The food was ordinary at best, the service lackluster, almost cynical. I'm sure they can put on a good party atmosphere for the regulars that expect a jolly Italian Guido character, but if you don't want to be exploited by the staging, avoid this place.
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Marco
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Thursday, August 13, 2009

Really bad quality! Garlic bread was old and really poor. Risotto was unfresh. It was impossible to eat. I've been eating in may different italian resturants in Brighton. This one was the most expensive and with worst food. I just can't understand why they are so booked with such bad quality. It must be the location and lots of tourists who will not come back there again. Me and my friends won't for sure !
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Joanna
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 11, 2009